Support Needed: Auto‑Login Configuration for Arduino UNO Q in SBC Mode

Official Hardware UNO Family UNO Q
1

I am using an Arduino UNO Q in SBC mode. Every time I power it up, the system asks me to enter the password for the arduino user.

I want to remove the password prompt or enable auto‑login, so the device logs in automatically after boot without requiring manual input.

Please advise on how to configure auto‑login or disable the password requirement in SBC mode.

2

The Debian docs will give you the answer.

3

If you have any ready-made information from the referred document, please post it here.

4

I don't, I just know the distro is Debian and I remember that there is a setting for auto login. Even my Mac (which is BSD Unix under the fancy covers) has it.
I just googled this

show me the doc for Debian auto login

and got a few answers depending on the GUI used.

5

Thanks for the reply.

The UNO Q platform is still under development. Therefore, it is essential that forum members receive “French-style” tutorials -- step-by-step instructions of the form “do this and get this” (a phrase borrowed from my former employer, French Schlumberger’s maintenance manuals).

6

I don’t see the document. If you have anything that could help me, could you please share it?

I’m working in SBC mode, and my Arduino Uno Q is built inside my product. When I power on the product, the Arduino and the SBC both start. The screen shows the usual boot messages, but then it stops and asks for the password for the “arduino” user. For my project, I don’t want anyone to have to enter a password. I need the system to power up, automatically log in, and immediately start running the Arduino code and showing the output without requiring any user interaction.

7

Hi @jps06. Logging in to desktop environment when using the UNO Q in SBC mode is handled by the LightDM display manager.

The behavior of LightDM is determined by a configuration file at this path on the UNO Q's drive:

/etc/lightdm/lightdm.conf

LightDM does have an autologin feature, which is configured by the autologin-user and autologin-user-timeout keys in the configuration file:

https://wiki.debian.org/LightDM#Enable_autologin

I'll provide instructions you can follow to enable the autologin feature:

  1. Start the UNO Q in SBC mode and log in to the desktop.
  2. Select Applications > System > Xfce Terminal from the desktop menu.
    The "Terminal" window will open.
  3. Type the following command in the "Terminal" window:
    sudo nano /etc/lightdm/lightdm.conf
  4. Press the Enter key.
    A prompt will appear:
    [sudo] password for arduino:
  5. Type the password for the user account on the UNO Q's Linux machine.
  6. Press the Enter key.
    The /etc/lightdm/lightdm.conf file will open in the GNU nano editor.
  7. Change the following lines in the file:
    #autologin-user=
#autologin-user-timeout=0
    to this:
    autologin-user=arduino
autologin-user-timeout=0
  8. Press the Ctrl+X keyboard shortcut.
    The nano editor will display a prompt:
    Save modified buffer?
  9. Press the Y key to confirm you wish to save the changes you made to the /etc/lightdm/lightdm.conf file.
    The nano editor will display a prompt:
    Write to File: /etc/lightdm/lightdm.conf
  10. Press the Enter key to confirm you wish to save to the /etc/lightdm/lightdm.conf file.
    The nano editor will exit.

You will now find that the arduino user is automatically logged in when you start the UNO Q in SBC mode.

Do you think French would approve of the instructions I provided? :laughing:

8

There is no doubt about it, which I can assure you from my experience of working with that oil service company for 15 years. The way you present the instructions is easy to follow, and it works for me like a checklist in chronological order.

9

Perfect. you made my day. I appreciate your help with detailed instruction and it worked. Thank you so much!!!

10

You are welcome. I'm glad if I was able to be of assistance.

Regards, Per

11

@ptillisch If you can help me with one more thing: when my screen stays idle, it goes dark and locks. Then I have to enter the password, so auto‑login doesn’t work in that situation. I’m thinking of keeping the screen on all the time with no sleep mode. This is just my idea so my screen stays up all the time without needing mouse or keyboard.

12

The login after waking from sleep feature is provided by light-locker:

You can avoid the session being locked on wake by not running light-locker. light-locker runs due to being configured as one of the startup applications. So you only need to remove it from the startup applications. I'll provide instructions you can follow to do that:

  1. Start the UNO Q in SBC mode and log in to the desktop.
  2. Select Applications > Settings > Settings Manager from the desktop menu.
    The "Settings" dialog will open.
  3. Select System > Session and Startup from the dialog.
    The "Session and Startup" dialog will open.
  4. Select the "Application Autostart" tab from the dialog.
  5. Uncheck the checkbox next to "Screen Locker (Launch screen locker program)" in the list of applications.
  6. Click the "Close" button in the dialog.
    The dialog will close.
  7. Click the "arduino" at the right side of the desktop menu.
    A menu will open.
  8. Select "Shut Down" from the menu.
    The "Shut Down" dialog will open.
  9. Click the "Shut Down" button in the dialog.

The Linux machine will now reboot. After this, it should no longer be necessary to login after waking the machine from sleep.

13

Thank you so much!!

14

I am connecting my new UNOQ board in the sbc mode for the first time with a new usb dongle powersupply etc.. I am seeing a Linux dialog with user name arduino and asking for password. What should I enter as password..?

15

Issue resolved..! I had to enter the password which I created when I started app labs first time from my Laptop. Now my UNO Q is working perfectly in SBC board.